Cruising Parachute Driven by Motor
A PARACHUTE propelled by a two-cylinder gasoline motor is the latest safety device proposed to keep pace with the rapid development of the airplane. The idea, depicted on this month's cover of Modern Mechanics magazine, was on the verge of an actual try-out by Buddy Bushmeyer, veteran parachute jumper, when he was killed in an airplane accident after he had gone up without a parachute for the first time in his long career as an airman.

Beam "Mike" for Outdoor Films Beam “Mike” for Outdoor Films Revolutionary in its scope and perfected to the point where it is believed millions of dollars will be saved in the production of outdoor talking pictures, the beam microphone pictured at the left is being used for the first time in the filming of a railroad epic in Montana. The […]

Road Automat Saves Walk for Gas Road Automat Saves Walk for Gas LATE hour motorists whose tanks run dry when they are out somewhere several miles from a filling station will find these new gas automats, shown in the photo below, which are being installed around Los Angeles as emergency stations, a great boon.

"I'll be with You Next Week in my New Heath Parasol"
say thousands of new builders of America's most popular sport plane. Start building your Parasol now for only $12.00!
This week, next week, every week —more and more Heath Parasols are in the air offering new thrills and new pleasures to countless thousands who never before could afford to fly. Some of these new flyers have long waited for a light plane offering complete safety with ease of handling. Others have been waiting for a truly dependable plane— at a cost they could afford. To both groups — the Heath Parasol now opens the airways of America for the first time in aviation history.

Music Writing Device Records Notes Played on Piano
IF STRAY melodies are always running through your mind and you are averse to setting them down on music paper at the moment of your inspiration, you will find this music writing piano, shown with its inventor, at the right, Dr. Moritz Stoehr, a great help in recording the tunes and keeping them in memory for publication.

Freak Airships of the Ancients Reputed to Have Flown
RECORDS of almost every ancient tribe will show among its traditions the legend of some member who achieved the miracle of flight, either through the use of wings or other devices more closely resembling modern airplanes. And the extraordinary part of it is that there are one or two instances, apparently well authenticated, which record flights that were actually successful.

How Ingenious Sound Producing Devices Fool Radio Microphone
You can't always believe what you hear over the radio—the picture above proves it. Sound producing machinery of a large chain broadcasting company is shown. Thirty-three separate sound effects arc produced by the cabinet before which the operator is sitting, but in addition to this a large number of individual devices are employed, including numerous bells of various tones, a cigar box with a pulley and piece of string to simulate the sound of a curtain being drawn in a theater, oar locks used in acts calling for a rowboat, and a pillow to be struck with slats to produce the thudding effect of a prize fight blow against human flesh.

Novel Ways of Getting There
THE wheels of progress turn ever forward, but every now and then they get an added, if somewhat novel, boost from some hitherto unknown genius who labors in his back yard to make the wheels move for himself, and for himself alone.

Collapsible Fire Escape Collapsible Fire Escape SOMETHING unique in the way of fire escapes is shown in the photo at the right. When a fire breaks out, the crank on the contraption is turned. This shoots the platform up to the window, permitting the person whose life is endangered to step out to safety. Turning the crank also […]

Tricks of Short Change Artists
by KENNETH MURRAY
You will be less likely to lose money to the short change artist after you have read Mr. Murray's interesting expose of the methods employed by crooks.
ARE the con men, the shills and the short-change artists of the old time circus and carnival deserting the field for the more generous one of big business? The present-day short-change artist is entirely modernized with up-to-date methods. Methods have to be up-to-date to make it possible to short-change an experienced bank teller, and that is exactly what they are doing.

Champ Cuts Cigarette in Two to Show His Skill With Fly Champ Cuts Cigarette in Two to Show His Skill With Fly BILL VOGT, world’s champion fly fisherman, is so skillful at casting flies that he can cut the tip from a cigarette with a number 10 trout fly and fly rod at a distance of 75 feet. He performs this amazing stunt with the same […]

Automatic Griddle Bakes Three Fluffy Flapjacks a Minute
A FLAPJACK griddle that is entirely automatic in action has recently been placed on the market by a Los Angeles firm. Batter for five hundred cakes may be placed in the tank, after which it is only necessary to turn on the switch and carry away the cakes.

Cold Milk Sold by Slot Machine
THIS mechanical cow, which has been christened "Vendicator," dispenses half pint bottles of ice cold milk for either ten or fifteen cents. All one has to do is to drop the necessary coins in the slot, turn the handle, and the bottle of lacteal fluid makes its appearance at the proper opening.

LEVIATHANS of the Air LEVIATHANS of the Air Germany, forbidden to construct military planes, has turned her attention to commercial craft. The world had no sooner recovered its breath from viewing the Dornier “DO. X” than Junkers announced a plane which would carry 175 tons.

Hollywood's New Game Hollywood’s New Game BY WAY of seeking diversion during time out from the strenuous labor of making movies to entertain the nation, Hollywood stars have devised a unique game called “Roll-in-the-hole.” The ball is rolled up an inclined trough and into a large tub-like arrangement with holes in the side. The point is to spin […]

Nutty Inventions to Make You Laugh
ED WYNN Famous Follies Funny Man, confides in ALFRED ALBELLI his secrets of nutty inventing which have made him the stage's highest paid comedian
PARADOXICAL as it may seem, there is an inventor in America who reaps a fortune every year out of the most foolish contraptions you ever laid your eyes on. Their only usefulness is for a good, full-blasted laugh.
Ed Wynn, the famous comedian, cashes in $150,000 a year by virtue of being "the perfect fool" of the American stage. The sobriquet of "The Perfect Fool"' was thrust upon him as he played that particular title role in a musical comedy. But Mr. Wynn has his serious—and idle—hours. These he devotes to experiments in his workshop at his Long Island home.

SCIENCE on the Trail of Crime
by Lieut. Col. Calvin Goddard
Director of Chicago's Scientific Crime Detection Laboratory
as told to JAY EARLE MILLER
On St. Valentine's Day, 1929, a party of Chicago gangsters, armed with two sub-machine guns, stood seven rivals against the wall of a gang rendezvous and mowed them down. A coroner's jury was impaneled and as a result of their labors Mr. Bert Mas see, the foreman, brought to Chicago Lieut. Col. Calvin Goddard, a famous expert on forensic ballistics, endowed a scientific crime detection laboratory, and placed Col. Goddard in charge. He tells here of the detective work of this laboratory.

Twenty-Three Days in the Air
Flying a distance equal to one and a half times around the world, the four Hunter brothers have established a new airplane endurance record for ambitious pilots to shoot at.
BREAKING the old world's refueling endurance record by 133 hours 20 minutes, the City of Chicago, an old model Stinson Detroiter with Wright J-6-300 motor, has stayed in the air for 23 days, 1 hour, 41 minutes and 30 seconds.
Imagine taking off at 3:40 p. m. on June 11 and coming down at 5:31-1/2 p. m. on July 4th after cruising for 553 hours 41 minutes and 30 seconds, and covering, at an average speed of 70 miles per hour, a total distance of at least 38,758 miles.

Could You Become a Radio Star?
By Alfred Albelli
If you have ability as an entertainer, along with a good radio personality, fame and fortune may await you if you can pass the radio audition test, as described here.
NO DOUBT everyone would get a great thrill hearing his name announced over a network of powerful broadcasting stations as the artist who will next entertain the vast multitudes of listeners-in with a song, a string of jokes, or a speech treating subjects of interest to the nation. And no doubt, also, everyone would get even a greater thrill out of receiving each month a salary and royalty check of the generous four-figure proportions that most radio entertainers pull down.

Novel German Game, "Swing-ball," Develops Agility and Strength Novel German Game, “Swing-ball,” Develops Agility and Strength AMONG the fair sex of Germany the new game, called “Swing-ball,” is rapidly coming into popularity. The game, played as shown in the photo at the right, develops agility, alertness and strength, and helps to keep that boyish figure and schoolgirl complexion. The ball, similar to a […]

Home Toaster Turns Itself Off Home Toaster Turns Itself Off MAKING toast that is tastily browned requires that the busy housewife watch the toaster closely, but with the small home toaster shown at the right, recently placed on the market, the watching is unnecessary. The lever is set for the heat desired and the current turned on. When the toast […]

EXERCISING at EASE with Mechanical Beauty AIDS
TO OVERWEIGHT men and women who desire to cut down their tonnage the strenuous exercises and rigorous diet prescribed by hard-hearted physicians are usually soon forgotten. The love of rich food and fondness for reclining in an easy chair have more appeal than the thought of a sylph-like figure.

Amazing ROBOTS Speed CHECK of NATION
by DR. JOSEPH A. HILL
Assistant Director of the Census Although the population of the United States has more than doubled since the Civil War, Uncle Sam, with the aid of these amazing new machines which do everything but think, completes the count in one-third the time required in 1860.
DURING the past few months, while more than 100,000 census enumerators were counting the noses of over 120,000,000 residents of the United States, hundreds of visitors from every state in the union flocked into the offices of the Census Bureau in Washington.

A Vest Pocket Movie Of Yourself
New drop-a-coin camera turns out portraits which wink and smile.
HAVE you ever wondered what you would look like in the movies? Well, you will soon have the opportunity of finding out—and you won't have to go to Hollywood or spend money on a screen test, either!
A New York inventor, Stanley Pask, has recently perfected an invention which is a vest-pocket edition of a motion picture studio.

"Brain Wave" Airplanes ~ Will They Fly?
by JAY EARLE MILLER
Will the airplane of tomorrow develop out of present day "brain wave" designs, so-called because of their freakish departure from generally accepted principles? It is quite possible, as Mr. Miller points out, that the airplane of the future will be entirely different from conventional types we are accustomed to.
WHAT will the airplane of the future look like?
Will heavier-than-air craft continue to develop along present lines, with refinement of detail, or will something radically different be produced and prove better than existing planes?

Advertising ODDITIES Attract Attention
THE milk delivery truck illustrated at the right, in addition to attracting attention through its unusual bus-like design, incorporates several distinctive features which make it especially suitable for this type of work.
The floor of the truck is built low and the doors are wide to make frequent entrance and exit easy. The car is driven from a standing position and is designed for frequent starting and stopping. The roomy body is fitted with racks to hold the various sizes of milk bottles.

Large Robot Diving Bell to Explore for Lost Treasure
AFTER fifteen years of patience and industry, Harry L. Bowdoin, marine engineer and inventor of Saybrook, Connecticut, has finally perfected diving equipment which will permit him to descend to depths of over 600 feet in search of lost treasure and new scientific data.